Blurring the lines

An internationally acclaimed band from Colorado is coming to Ashland, Ore. on April 21 and they’re bringing bluegrass like you’ve never heard it.

John Bowman

An internationally acclaimed band from Colorado is coming to Ashland, Ore. on April 21 and they’re bringing bluegrass like you’ve never heard it.

Yonder Mountain String Band formed in 1998 in the small town of Nederland, Co. and they’ve spent the past 15 years becoming one of the best known bands in today’s evolution of acoustic Americana music. They’ve appeared on CBS’ Late Late Show, shared the stage with musicians like Dave Mathews and played in some of the nation’s biggest music festivals.

The band features a standard bluegrass lineup comprised of Jeff Austin on mandolin, Dave Johnston on banjo, Adam Aijala on guitar and Ben Kaufmann on bass. But there is nothing standard about their sound, which ranges from old-timey, traditional Appalachian bluegrass to all out rock-and-roll, often blurring the lines between those and many other musical genres. That fusion of the past, present and everything in between gives Yonder Mountain a unique appeal that they say has helped drive their success and longevity.

The Daily News spoke to Austin and Johnston in a recent telephone interview while the band was recovering from a recent winter tour across the U.S. and gearing up for a new spring tour that will kick-off in Seattle, WA on April 18 and end in Ozark, AR on May 30.

According to Austin, Yonder Mountain has always sounded “like something completely different,” and that’s the way they like it. He says that uniqueness has helped them avoid being pulled into the world of major record label production where outside influences can often be a hindrance to the artistic process.

“We’ve always been an intuitive band,” says Johnston, explaining that the band’s open and democratic approach to songwriting is not conducive to the commercial demands of a major label.

Yonder Mountain is a truly independent band, having released four out of its five studio albums, and five volumes of live recording on its own independent record label, Frog Pad Music. The band started the label when working on its first album in 1999.

According to Austin that independence is absolutely vital to the band’s creative process. “We’re in control of every aspect of what we do. It’s way easier to not have anyone to answer to,” he says.

Johnston noted that having to fund the recording process is the main drawback to being so independent, but the advantages out-weigh that issue. Even so, recording studio albums is a low priority to the band, mostly because playing live shows is its driving force and they spend the majority of their year traveling the country doing just that.

Johnston says he loves the “exchange of energy” he gets from live performance because the audience is directly engaged in the moment. “When you are recording, the audience is so far away,” he says.

Improvisation is another aspect of Yonder Mountain’s live shows that make the experience more attractive to the band than recording in a studio. These musicians are talented enough to create spontaneous rhythms and melodies that sound like well-rehearsed compositions. While their songs all have pre-written structure and progression, the four musicians will often engage in what Austin calls a musical “conversation” on stage, leading each other on musical tangents that could be entirely separate songs of their own.

“Improvisation makes me feel more human,” says Johnston, explaining that when songs can be different each time they are played “it feels less like you’re making a product and more like creating music.”

The Yonder Mountain String Band will be having musical conversations and creating in the moment at the Historic Ashland Armory in Ashland, Ore. on April 21. For more information about the band or to purchase tickets, go to www.yondermountain.com.

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